drugs

A Marion Superior Court should have allowed a defendant to play parts of a police officer’s deposition for impeachment
purposes, but the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that failing to admit his inconsistent statement was harmless error.

A home health care nurse whose flight from police while high on drugs and with her 89-year-old patient in the car had her
sentence reduced because the Court of Appeals concluded she is not among the “worst offenders.” The high-speed
chase led to a crash and the death of the patient from injuries she sustained.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a northern Indiana man’s convictions of distributing crack cocaine and conspiracy
to distribute the drug, but found that he is entitled to resentencing under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded two judges in the Northern District of Indiana should take another look at two
defendants’ requests to have their sentences for crack cocaine offenses reduced based on revised sentencing guidelines.

A man stopped by police while driving through Vigo County for unsafe lane movement – and later convicted of Class A
felony dealing in cocaine – couldn’t convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his conviction should be overturned.

On interlocutory appeal, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s denial of an Elkhart County man’s
motion to suppress evidence police seized from him and his residence while investigating possible drug dealing.

A man convicted on a drug dealing charge and found to be a serious violent felon will have a new trial because his trial attorney
did not file a motion to bifurcate the dealing and SVF charges, which prejudiced him, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.

A man who was arrested and charged with Class B felony possession of cocaine because he was within 1,000 feet of a family
housing complex in Elkhart had his conviction upheld by the Indiana Court of Appeals Friday. But the judges reversed a habitual
offender enhancement because the state didn’t prove that John F. Harris III had more than one dealing offense.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a man’s petition for rehearing and for a rehearing en banc after the court originally
upheld the seizure of thousands of dollars following a traffic stop. But one judge did write to explain that she disagreed
with her fellow panel members’ rationale for originally affirming the seizure.

Even though the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals was “disturbed” by a government agent’s improperly admitted
testimony linking a defendant’s Mexican nationality to the methamphetamine at issue, the court declined to grant a new
trial.

The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected a defendant’s arguments to overturn his two convictions of Class A felony possession
of cocaine, including that he should have been granted a speedy trial and the trial court erred when it rejected his tendered
jury instruction.

A criminal defendant who filed motions on his own behalf and who also had consented to appointment of a special public defender
was not denied a speedy trial when a delay of more than 70 days occurred, the Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

A divided Court of Appeals upheld a man’s possession of marijuana conviction that stemmed from a 911 call. Dissenting
Judge James Kirsch doesn’t believe that the providing of a name by a 911 caller removes this case from the category
of an anonymous caller, thus the call doesn’t give police enough evidence to stop the car the defendant was in.

A man who was convicted of multiple methamphetamine felonies had his misdemeanor resisting law enforcement conviction reversed,
but the Court of Appeals was not persuaded to overturn his drug convictions.

Nine defendants who were convicted in federal court of drug conspiracy for distributing methamphetamine and marijuana will
continue to serve their sentences after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the judgments but issued cautions for federal
prosecutors.

Immigration prosecutions have surpassed those for drug crimes in federal courts, according to data released by the U.S. Sentencing
Commission in its Overview of Federal Criminal Cases for Fiscal Year 2011.

The stop, search and subsequent discovery of drugs violated the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches
even though the police officer was off duty at the time of the incident, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled.

A mother who used methamphetamine while pregnant and continued to abuse drugs after her children were judged in need of services
was properly denied parental rights, as was the children’s often-absent father, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

The Indiana Court of Appeals disagreed with an appellant who claimed police did not have reasonable suspicion to believe he
and two other men were involved in criminal activity, which led to their stop and his eventual conviction of Class A felony
attempted dealing in methamphetamine.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said a newly formed prescription drug abuse task force will examine whether special
problem-solving courts may be a venue for fighting prescription painkiller abuse.